SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 includes a host of new features including the following:

Support for the Transact-SQL Editor in Visual Studio 2010 that can be used to run free-text T-SQL queries and to view query show-plans for optimizing queries.

Exposes the Change Tracking feature as an application programming interface (API), namely, System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeChangeTracking. The new Change Tracking API provides the ability to configure, enable, and disable change tracking on a table, and to access the change tracking data for the table.

New assembly versioning support and directory structure that enables the SQL Server Compact applications that use private deployment to load SQL Server Compact assemblies from within the application folder if they are of a higher version than that in the global assembly cache (GAC).

Support added for deploying the 64-bit version of SQL Server Compact using the ClickOnce deployment.

Synchronization Services for ADO.NET v1.0 providing the ability to synchronize data from disparate sources over two-tier, N-tier, and service-based architectures.

Help improve SQL Server Compact by submitting and tracking bugs using Microsoft Connect website. Be sure to select SQL Server Compact as the version and provide detailed repro steps to help us identify the problem.

Contact Microsoft Professional Support. For deeper support needs, purchase a Professional Support package and have experts available to help out in case of any issues.

Find out what support options are available if you are located outside the United States or Canada at Worldwide Support Options.

Search the Knowledge Base Articles. Get the answers you need about SQL Server Compact from the Microsoft Knowledge Base. This is the same database of technical articles used by Microsoft Support Professionals.

To participate in the future SQL Server Compact Technology Adoption Program (TAP) send us an email.

The file available for download is a self-extracting executable (exe) file that contains the 32-bit and the 64-bit Windows Installer (MSI) files for installing SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 on a 32-bit and a 64-bit Computer. The exe file needs 6 MB of available hard disk space for extracting the MSIs.

To download the SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 (SSCERuntime-ENU.exe):

In the Files in this Download section at the bottom of this page, click the SSCERuntime-ENU.exe link.

Do one of the following:

To start the extraction immediately, click Open or Run this program from its current location and specify an extraction location on your computer.

To copy the download to your computer for extraction at a later time, click Save or Save this program to disk and specify a location to save the .exe file on your computer. Double-click the .exe file to extract the installation files.

On a 64-bit Computer, install both the 32-bit and the 64-bit version of the SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 MSI files. Existing SQL Server Compact 3.5 applications may fail if only the 32-bit version of the MSI file is installed on the 64-bit computer. Developers should chain both the 32-bit and the 64-bit MSI files with their applications and install both of them on the 64-bit Computer. Refer to the KB article or to the Install.txt file that is extracted with the MSI files for more information.

To remove this download:

Delete the guide and SSCERuntime-ENU.exe from the folder to which you saved the guide.

SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 is freely redistributable under a redistribution license agreement. Application developers redistributing SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 can optionally register at the SQL Server Compact redistribution site. Registering will help the developers in getting information about SQL Server Compact critical security patches and hot fixes that can be further applied to the client installations.

The existing installations of SQL Server Compact 3.5 or SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 on the Computer are upgraded to the released version of SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 by installing SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 using the MSI file.